Enbridge has announced the company will be increasing the operating pressure of the T-South natural gas transmission system to 85 per cent.

This increase from the current 80 per cent operating pressure is an effort to restore the natural gas transmission following the Oct. 9 rupture of their 36-inch pipeline 13.5 km north of Prince George.

“Enbridge expects this will allow us to gradually increase capacity from the current 0.9 Bcf/d to approximately 1 Bcf/d at the Huntingdon area by November 22, 2018,” states a release issued by the company on Nov. 17.

The repairs to the pipeline were completed as of Oct. 31 and, since then, crews have been working to return it to service. The increase of operating pressure was approved by the National Energy Board.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to safety, Enbridge is continuing our comprehensive integrity program on our T-South system. Enbridge is advancing this work prior to restoring the entire system to 100 per cent of normal operating pressure,” states the Nov. 17 release. “These integrity assessments, which may include integrity digs and inline pipeline inspections, are being done on a segment-by-segment basis, focusing first on segments that maximize system capacity increases while the system is safely brought back to higher operating pressure.”